Black Friday

Did you brave the stores today? I did, but I was not one of the people waiting in line for the sales to start. My normal Black Friday shopping starts around 9 or 10 in the morning. This year with most of the stores starting their sales at midnight I got to the store at about 8. I was SHOCKED to still find some of the great electronics deals that they were offering. My local supercenter still had palates of Wii's, Blu-ray players, & TV's. DVD's, games, and CD's. This trip was also a success. I found almost everything that I was looking for except the sets of glass bowls that I wanted. I guess the saying "You snooze you loose." applies for this item.

Today's experience was very different in many ways. I not only started out earlier, but I also did not shop alone. My husband decided that he wanted to tag along, which was nice. I was able to leave him with the cart and get into crowded isles to find the bargain items that I was looking for. I was also able to send him after things that I missed. On the other hand, if I had gone alone I think I would have spent less money. That's OK though, it is rare that he helps with Christmas (or Birthday) shopping. I am hoping that by helping out it will help to put him in a better frame of mind when it comes to Christmas. He is ofter a bit of a scrooge about the holidays.

Now the rest of the fun begins: putting up and decorating the tree, decorating the house, and wrapping presents.

Sammy Is Thankful For....

The thing that Sammy is most thankful for this year is that she no longer has to wear her arm/wrist brace. I sprung her from it a few days early much to her delight. The doctor recommended keeping it on until Thanksgiving, but I let her take it off today. Had she needed to go back for a 4 week follow up appointment, she would be seeing the doctor tomorrow. Looking at it that way, it was only one day early.

I really hope that she does not hurt herself anytime soon. Makenzie on the other hand is wishing that she will break her arm so that she can have a cast and extra attention. I keep telling her that she and I are special because we have NOT broken a bone.

As We Prepare To Celebrate Thanksgiving...

Preparations for Thanksgiving will keep us busy this week. Among all the hustle and bustle I wanted to stop for a moment to reflect on what I am thankful for.

First of all I am thankful for my family. Not just my immediate family (kids, parents, etc.) but also all of my extended family. I am excite to see alot of my aunts, uncles & cousins on Thursday when we celebrate Thanksgiving at my Aunt Theresa's house.

I am thankful that my husband found a great job last December just weeks after I was informed I was being laid off. In addition, I am thankful for my husband who works so hard and many long days (12 hour days for the last month with no end in sight) to support the family financially.

I am thankful for all of my great friends. They may not be large in number, but they are the ones that I know I can turn to for anything at anytime.

I am thankful that we have our freedom. Thanks to all those who have served in the military, including my dad.

I am thankful that we have a home to live in & food to eat.

I am thankful for the wonderful teachers & support staff at my children's schools.

I am thankful for having access to medical care.

There are many more things that I am thankful for, but I have kids asking for help with homework, laundry calling my name and dinner to cook. So I will stop my list there.

May you all have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. For those of you who will be doing Black Friday shopping, by safe and I hope you are able to find all of the items on your list.

My Baby Is Growing Up

My baby is growing up and I am having mixed emotions about it. Sammy decided this week that I no longer need to walk her to her line and wait with her until the teacher comes out to collect the class.

At her school the kids line up on the playground and wait for the teacher to come out and escort the class into the building. When Makenzie was in Kindergarten I think I walk her to her line for maybe the first month, if it was even that long. When I did walk her to the line I was able to just walk her over, get my hug and kiss, and then I was able to leave. After that point I was able to just pull up to the drop off area and let her out and she would walk herself to her line.

I am glad that Sammy is now comfortable with going to school without me, but on the other hand I am sad that she no longer needs me.

Sick Of Being Sick

I spent all last week sick. I finally called the doctor last Thursday and received a prescription for antibiotics. Although I did not actually see the doctor to get an exact diagnosis, I suspect that I had pneumonia. Finally, today I think my energy level has returned to normal. I have also pretty much gotten rid of the lingering cough. I had gotten to a point that I was sick of being sick.

I was not getting anything done that needed to be done. This was partly due to not having any energy and getting winded pretty fast. Needless to say the house looks terrible. I was hoping to spend quite a bit of time this weekend cleaning and organizing, but I have too many other things going on that will keep my away from the house. Oh well, it will get done at some point.

Cookies, Cookies, & More Cookies

That is what my life is all about right now - COOKIES. Well, Girl Scout Cookies to be more precise. On Monday I went to pick up our troop's cookie order. It consisted of 48 cases (576 boxes) of cookies. Now that might sound like alot, but there were troop leaders that were at the pick up location that had 30+ cases of one variety of cookie alone. One troop needed 3 minivans packed FULL to get all of their cookies. That is one reason that I like having a small troop. 48 cases was more than enough to have to load, unload, sort, reload, deliver to parents at meeting location, and manage the money. I also had my girls' orders to sort & deliver. I also have the extra boxes that we had to order to fill out a case of each type, as well as the cookies from our troop door to door sales. It falls on me to deliver this last batch of cookies as well. Everyone else is busy this Saturday and cannot help me. My girls are spending the night at my parents' house tonight, so they will not be there to help either.

I am getting to a point that I do not want to see another box of Girl Scout Cookies again for a very long time. That will not happen because I have about 30 extra boxes at my house that we need to get sold ASAP. As a troop we will have to pay for any unsold boxes, which cuts into the amount of money that we have to spend on fun activities with the girls. If you want any cookies, please let me know.